


Keep Track of Time

by ramenwriter (WritingEngine)



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dream Team SMP Spoilers, Gen, Karl Jacobs-centric, Mentioned Alexis | Quackity, Mentioned GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Toby Smith | Tubbo, Mentioned TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Other, Prisoner Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29091786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingEngine/pseuds/ramenwriter
Summary: Karl goes to visit Dream in the prison.He doesn't take too kindly to the prisoner's antics.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Karl Jacobs, Clay | Dream & Sam | Awesamdude, Sam | Awesamdude & Karl Jacobs
Comments: 10
Kudos: 121





	Keep Track of Time

**Author's Note:**

> keep in mind that this is a one-chapter-only type thing as it's more of an impulse fic than anything
> 
> this has a total of 117 paragraphs written (some large some small); so good luck :D

He's visiting the prison today.

Karl has passed by it multiple times; from the initial construction of the obsidian-layered building, from when Sam disallowed anyone from visiting Dream, from following after Quackity and Bad to gain intel on the Crimson Egg, and up to recent days, where Sam's allowing people (one person at a time) to visit the green man. He's finally having the open chance to go inside.

When he enters the lobby, after Sam told him earlier to get to by going through the portal, he automatically takes in the scenery. Shiny quartz pillars hold up the whole structure on each wall (not including the walls with switches on them), and blackstone walls hold the rest of the entirety of the prison up. Even though the place is well-lit, the lights inside that decorate patterns all over the walls and floor appear more as decoration than actual light sources.

Karl waits patiently in front of the lectern with an open book on it, drumming his fingers on the edge of it and coming up with a random little rhyme to hum along to while he waits. He knows Sam's supposed to let him in, being the only guard the prison has to offer right now, and that the half-creeper hybrid will-

"Welcome to the prison."

He turns back around to face the desk again, where Sam is standing and staring at him with pitch black eyes. Thankfully, he's not as terrifying as half the bullhonkery Karl's seen in other universes and timelines. And, well, many of his friends (if he can call them that) are hybrids of monsters or nonhuman beings. So, he's pretty used to it.

Something, the portal he assumes without turning, shatters behind him, and Karl continues watching Sam while waiting a response.

"You won't be able to leave through there until we're done." Though he pauses to hesitate, Karl lets him go on. "Um, alright. Before we can go any further with the visit of the prison, I'm gonna need to ask you some questions, and then you'll have to fill out the form right here on the lectern in front of you." Sam gestures towards said lectern, and Karl nods accordingly, knowing what the other's explaining.

"Yep. Got it, Sam," Karl replies, glancing down at the pages opened already. He looks up at Sam again with another nod, letting him know to go on.

And so, Sam continues. "First, I have some questions for you."

"Okay."

"When, if ever, is the last time that you visited the prisoner?" Sam asks, only focused on the book sitting on the lectern in front of Karl.

Karl shakes his head. "This is my first time."

Sam's eyes look a lot more dead than Karl thought they did. Maybe this whole prison guarding as the prison warden's getting to the poor guy. "Where is your place of residence currently located?"

Karl looks around for a second to try and pinpoint the directions to his bamboo house. Since he has no idea, and he frankly doesn't even know which way it is from the prison, he shrugs slightly. "It's probably away from here, but I have no idea how far the distance is. It's the house hidden in bamboo, though, if that makes any difference."

"Okay," Sam replies, seeming satisfied with the answer. "Do you believe that the prisoner is deserving of being locked up in the prison?" he questions.

"Yes," Karl answers quickly after Sam finishes the question.

Sam nods and goes on with more questions. "What are your prior relationships with the prisoner?"

_"I have another gift for you, Karl."_

_"Now his evidence goes against him! Now his evidence goes against him! Now it's the other way around, Mister-"_

_"I've been so lonely..."_

Shaking his head, Karl sighs. "He's.. a friend of one of my fiancés Sapnap. Other than that, we aren't close at all, me and the prisoner. We've talked a lot, but I would not at all say that says anything about our relationship."

Another nod from Sam means Karl's on the right track. Or so he assumes, at least.

"Okay. Are you willing to submit to any and all physical exams while visiting the prison?"

That's more of an easy question; thank you, Sam the Warden. "Yeah, sure," Karl replies with a brief smile. He's glad that this isn't a weird trap set up by Dream, or worse, by _Sam_ of all people. He doesn't believe it's a trap at all despite what the voices tell him. He only ever hears the voices when he's in his own timeline and never in ones that aren't his, and while it doesn't make sense to him yet, he's just glad he's not alone; Ranboo has dealt with them before, and apparently so have both Technoblade and Phil.

"Okay, that's very good," Sam says with a tiny nod. Karl's not even looking at him anymore and he just looks at the lights on the nearest wall. "Do you acknowledge that you may not bring anything with you into the prison?"

 _Can I bring my dignity? Oh wait, sorry, forgot I don't have that anymore._ Karl wants to say, but it probably sounds way better in his head than out loud. Also, he really doesn't want to end up getting kicked right out of the prison for making a dumb joke.

Karl nods in agreement. "Yep. I know that."

"Very good," Sam praises the young man, who nods again to accept the praise. "Do you recognize that I, Awesamdude, am the ultimate authority on these grounds of the prison, and that anything I say goes?"

That makes him wonder what the consequences would be if someone were to, hypothetically, go against the warden's wishes. Did they have any consequences set up in case that happens? _Has_ that happened yet? Karl knows only Tommy and Bad have visited Dream so far, and he doesn't believe either of them had to be reprimanded at all; even if he would understand why if they did.

Well now he's not sure he should agree. He's in it too far now to turn and request to cancel the visit for a new rescheduling, and who knows how long _that_ whole process will take? So he just gives another nod to silently answer the warden's question. He's grateful when Sam accepts the silent answer to clarify further.

"Very good," comes another praise from the half-creeper. "It means any direction that I give, you're gonna have to follow them. It's just the rules of the prison."

"Thank you for clarifying," Karl responds.

Sam doesn't acknowledge the thanks as he starts off with instructions. "Alright." _What, no praise this time? I even thanked you!_ Karl pretends not to feel offended by the sudden lack of praises. He likes them a lot, and it doesn't matter who it's from; he does love it more when he hears them come from his fiancés, though. "Go ahead and open up that lectern there. You can read through the book, and I'll need you to take the book and sign it and return it to me. I need you to read it out loud as well, please."

_Okay. Simple enough._

The book's already open for him, which he thinks Sam just either forgot or he hadn't even noticed the small mistake. Either way though, Karl looks at the first page where the other one to the left is completely blank. Not even a mess of writing is on it, but hey, that's fine. It's just a prison book.

"I hereby assume all of the risks of visiting the holding cell, including by way of example and not limitation, any risks that may arise from negligence or carelessness on the part of the Prison Guards, prisoners misbehaving, from dangerous or defective equipment or property owned, maintained, or controlled by the Prison Guards. I certify that I waive, release, and discharge the Prison from any and all liability, including but not limited to, death, disability, personal injury, property damage, property theft, or actions of any kind which may hereafter occur to me, including my traveling to and from visiting the Prisoner."

Karl can feel Sam's eyes on him, watching intently without realizing the traveler has caught him staring. He pays no mind to it and picks up the pen and signs at the top of the front page and goes up to the side of the lobby desk to hand over to Sam, who places it somewhere under the desk out of the other man's sight.

When Sam stands back up after crouching to put the signed book away, he turns and flicks a switch closest to him, which opens the door to Karl's left.

"Before we can move on, I'll need you to lock any belongings that you've brought with you up in the locker. You can use Locker One." Karl gives a nod before he enters so-called Locker One. His inventory's not filled with anything, since he left everything back at his house for safekeeping in an ender chest and not-really-important items in regular chests. "Just go down. Place your items in the chest. Press the button on the right hand side; you'll get the key. And you'll need to store that in your ender chest, so if you don't have an open spot in your ender chest, feel free to take something out and put it in the locker as well. No one will be able to access the locker as long as you have the key."

"Uh.. what if I have nothing on me, Sam?" Karl asks as he leaves the locker room, whose door clutters shut behind him due to Sam flicking the switch in assumption that he's done. "Am I good to go?"

"Then you do not need access at all to Locker One, so dispose of the key-"

"I didn't take the key."

Sam looks taken back from that, but he shakes his head and moves on. "Alright, very good then." _Oh so NOW he's back to the praises? Okay, I see how it is._ "Now I'll need you to enter into the hallway at the end there. I'll open it now," he instructs, flicking a switch to his right left that opens up the hallway for Karl to go down. And so, the brunette makes his way down the hall, turning to see it has closed behind him.

Karl waits patiently for further instruction as he stands in front of the white bed that's placed on one block of obsidian, and it's surrounded by other layers of obsidian. Only when he looks through the tinted glass to his left is when Sam enters that room with a switch beside him and he's stood on four floor lights. "Heya," he giggles, trying to lessen how solemn the warden's been acting for the entire time Karl's been here.

Sam's not amused in the slightest and he doesn't answer directly.

"Now then, I need you to touch that bed there with your right hand. It has a small touch to it that will bring you right back here if you were to be put in a deathly situation."

_Ah. Fun._

"I've been in dumb situations before, so this is probably not necessary."

"You said you acknowledged that I, Awesamdude, am the ultimate authority on these grounds of the prison, and that anything I say goes. Are you going back on your own words, Karl Jacobs?"

_What if I don't answer that question?_

"No, not at all," Karl answers instead, briefly touching the bed with his right hand. He knows it won't matter if he saves using the bed or not; he has no intentions of returning to this spot. Sam feeds him in further praise and instructs him to go stand on the blue blocks, and so he does.

"Stand still, please."

Karl looks around when he realizes small barriers have been put up to box him in place, leaving at least a three or four block distance between himself and the barriers. He also quickly realizes he's dealing damage, feeling light burns on his skin and briefly on his cheeks from.. some type of harmful potion. He's not sure where it's coming from, or _why_ Sam's not giving two honks about it, so he tries to ignore how much it stings.

He appears in front of a wall of obsidian and looks immediately at the ground to see that he's standing on blocks of lights. He looks back up to see Sam enter the room, and he ushers the brunette to come forward to _really_ get things started. The "moving floor" (as Sam dubbed it) comes up after a flick of a switch, and the two walk down the terribly long-ish hallway until they're face-to-face with a wall (which Sam explains is a vault door) and stairs. He warns Karl to stay back until he says otherwise, which the traveller does, and the vault door opens with another switch flicked.

He follows Sam on through the room the vault door leads into, watching it close behind them when, surprise surprise, _another switch is flicked by Sam._ This man really knows how to make a prison _really_ dang secure, doesn't he?

"We will continue. This here is the main cells of the prison," Sam explains as he walks down the hallway, glancing over to make sure that Karl is actually following; he is. "None of these are high-security cells, but they are very secured. It'd be very difficult to escape even here." He pauses when he stops to flick a switch and tells Karl to go through them, and after he does, he rests his right hand on a black bed per Sam's request, who enters the room seconds after. He gestures to the glass blocks on the floor against the wall opposite of the door, roughly shoving Karl there and positioning him to stand forward. "I will be doing a manual search, and I ask that you do not move."

Before Karl gets to ask or say that the search is highly unnecessary, and to whine about the rough treatment from the warden, Sam's netherite sword goes right through his chest. And then, Karl appears by the black bed, and he shoots a nasty glare at the half-creeper hybrid. He's been killed before this prison visit, and frankly, that wasn't a fun time either.

"Good. Now that I've confirmed that you do have no items on you, you can proceed towards the main cell. You'll enter to the next room."

Karl feels like grabbing the man's sword and putting it through his chest again. If he knew this is how long _one prison visit_ would be, he wouldn't even have bothered showing up for Dream. The green man is lucky he's willing to lose each ounce of patience to see him. He hides his heated glare meant for Sam when he enters the now open room, looking around casually. After Sam enters after him and instructs him to enter the little space to stand on two blocks of light, which Karl does, a switch flicker puts up a barrier right in front and suddenly poisonous arrows are shooting (assumingly behind) Karl.

"This is painful, you know," he comments, only walking out and swimming through the water after Sam tells him to. He hears the man grunt in what he thinks is his response to the apparent pain he's feeling, which settles the pain to a 9 out of 10; close to dying fully yet just a bit off. He's pretty certain Sam wasn't kidding when he said the prison holds no responsibility for any health risks or deaths in the prison. He doesn't blame him either.

It's a bit of a long waterway route, but Karl swims his way into an obsidian-layered room where an "entrance" (he can only guess) of lava hisses right before him. Sam pops into the room to his left and welcomes him with his dead, cold voice, and he seals the waterway by messing with a switch before (per his instructions) watching Karl kneel down and rest his hand on another black bed that's more ground-level and a lot harder to reach.

Karl wonders if Sam enjoys watching people suffer through this oddly well-secured prison.

He's told to read two books out loud, which he goes on to do while feigning enthusiasm; reading isn't his strong suit while writing definitely is.

"In the event of security protocol taking place while I am within the bounds of the maximum security cell, I hereby acknowledge that I could potentially be locked within the cell for up to 7 days, or until the security issue is resolved."

_Ah. That's a problem._

Problem or not, he does end up signing the front of the book and slides it on the floor for Sam to pick up at his feet. He grins playfully when Sam eyes him with a cold stare, only moving to read the next book after Sam has picked up the first one. As far as he's aware, nothing in the prison rules stated that he can't be a little shit to the warden; just that he has to listen to the "ultimate authority".

Karl clears his throat, wanting _so badly_ to pull a dumb narrator or deep pirate voice to make things interesting for himself and the voices that won't leave him alone. Sometimes, when they _do_ leave him alone, they just come back to mess with him some more until he's pushed over his edge of sanity. Not even Sapnap or Quackity can push him over that edge; he doesn't know what would happen if they did.

In the end, Karl settles on reading the book in his regular voice. Even if it sounds boring to him.

"In the event that a prisoner is to escape during my visit, or after my visit because of my actions, I hereby give permission for any individual to hunt me down and kill me until I am completely dead."

_Okay, that's pretty harsh. What the honk are the conditions in this place?_

He quickly signs the front page of this book and slides it to Sam's feet like the first one, giggling with mischief dancing in his bright brown eyes. He's done this before; sliding items at Sapnap's feet when he misplaces them, giggling at his lover's confusion when his sword is suddenly beside him to slay mobs with. He slides bags of food and drinks to Quackity's feet when he _knows_ his partner's running low on energy and, well, _health_ , grinning from ear-to-ear when the man babbles into a Spanish prayer, saying many thanks to "God" for "blessing him with deliciously mysterious foods and drinks".

They're both idiots and he absolutely loves them for who they are and who they have been. No one can replace his boys, and Karl will never let anything happen to them this time around.

Sam seems to say something, but because Karl’s just a little out of it, he raises his voice. "Stand on the front block in front of the lava entrance, and please don’t move while in motion."

He stands pretty still on the front block and wonders what his fiancés would think about this if they ever come here, whether to visit or just to check the place out. He believes both of them would definitely be just as amazed as he is, but he doesn’t know what they’d think about the prison; more importantly, their views on the lone prisoner.

Surely they agree with Karl that Dream deserves punishment for his many crimes (ones against literal children too), right?

Once Karl makes it through the lava because of the moving gold blocks underneath him, another something about the prison that easily amazes him, he’s greeted by Sam telling him to step into the small block of water so he will not burn; for obvious reasons, despite him not giving a honk, Karl obeys and jumps into the water, giggling when some of it splashes onto Sam’s armor.

Once again, the hybrid is not amused.

Sam leads him up the stairs without further comment about the childish behavior. "This is the maximum security area. Please proceed up here."

Karl stares at each step carefully as he follows the man, partially not paying attention. He gives a little more attention when he hears Sam clear his throat, and he has to cover his mouth to hold back a giggle. He doesn’t take serious people seriously most times, and it normally leads to him finding out how ridiculously funny and sweet they can be once those rocky barriers get torn down.

Sam waits for Karl to make it up completely before proceeding with the instructions. "I need you to touch that bed immediately."

"Sounds like what my fiancés would say," Karl jokes. He goes to touch the bed for who knows how many times it’s been, then steps away from it.

Sam doesn’t even bother commenting on the joke nor does he acknowledge it. "Very good."

_There’s that motherhonking praise again! Honk yeah!_

Karl tries not to give the air a fistbump and he quietly waits for the man to continue. He really hopes this is the end of the process.

"Are you sure you wish to see Dream today?"

_I could pick any other day if I wanted. But this is pretty important to be for today._

"Yep!" It comes out way more enthusiastically than he intended, but it’s fine. He could use the false energy anyday.

Sam starts messing with the switches, probably trying to remember which does what; there are a lot of switches in the prison, probably even more than Karl’s seen, so he doesn’t blame Sam at all for tampering and testing around.

"Okay. I need you to stand here and face forward," Sam instructs as he briefly gestures to the block right in front of the lava yet about two or three blocks from getting burned by it. "And do not move while you get across to Dream."

The brunette traveler watches the lava drain until a complete ocean of the hissing liquid fills the space between Dream’s cell (in which the honking man’s staring right at them) and where Karl’s standing. He isn’t given an actual warning when the floor starts moving forward underneath him, taking him slowly but steadily towards Dream’s cell.

_Holy honks this is really happening._

Karl steps off of the platform after it reaches the cell and he looks back at Sam, ignoring the quiet mutters of the voices chattering around his mind.

"I will retract the bridge while you are visiting the prisoner."

The "bridge" returns in a shaky movement to where it was prior to Karl stepping on it. "I will reinstate the lava. Once the flow is ceased, I’ll lower down the gate and you may enter the main cell with the prisoner." All of a sudden, a wall of lava pours from the ceiling and prevents him from seeing Sam and anything else behind him.

_This doesn’t feel sketchy at all._

Karl turns around and watches the gate lower. He steps into the cell and gives a look around Dream’s new home.

The criminal has a book on a lectern with a light shining down on it, a pot of water, a chest (in which Karl finds many books untouched), and an empty frame on the left wall. The cell, like all the other ones, is some amount of layered obsidian. It reminds Karl of the obsidian that once trapped George at the hands of a pissed off Dream.

"Hi Karl," Dream greets with a smile, one that makes many people shudder in fear of what intentions lie behind it. He's wearing a green blanket over his whole body and, if Karl's looking right, his black fingerless gloves look somewhat tattered. "Is Sapnap or George coming after you to visit me? Bad said he would convince them to come, and I'd say he's pretty good at convincing people."

"Cut the crap, Dream."

Dream blinks a few times, and Karl narrows his eyes at him. It's weird looking at actual flesh rather than a mask; he's not sure _where_ the mask even is if it's not on him or elsewhere in the cell. From what he knows from Sapnap, Dream never takes the thing off. Something about how looking at people makes him uneasy.

So why is he fine with staring right at Karl without it?

"You made both of my fiancés feel like crap, you know that?" Karl asks, but he gives Dream no time to get a word out. "You told Sapnap he's _dividing_ the Dream Team and made it clear you don't care about him _or_ George, and you tried to destroy Quackity's nation that has _nothing_ to do with you and your nation. Anytime someone tries to work with you, even for a bit, you break their trust."

A glint of boredom appears in Dream's eyes. "Karl..."

"You hurt _children_ , man. Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo are _children_."

"Tubbo can't rule a nation, Tommy never does anything right, and Ranboo's insane!"

Karl scoffs at that. "Tubbo did what he thought was fit for the nation. He risked losing Tommy in the process, but he got him back because neither of them wanted otherwise. And Tommy _can_ and _has_ done so many right things in his lifetime, Dream; he gave up his discs in a war so the rest of his nation would be _okay_. And, and Ranboo, he is _far_ from insane. He just wants peace like a lot of people do, but how's he supposed to be _calm_ about what he wants when people are getting in his head and calling him a _traitor_ _?_ I.." he pauses to catch his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. He has to stay calm. "What would your mom think about this?"

Dream's once heated glare softens, and he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Karl counts this as.. well, progress. "What?"

"You heard me. What would she-"

"How do you know about my mom?" Dream interrupts. "She told me to keep that between _us_."

"I've seen that blanket of yours before. Just in another timeline."

Dream's fingers grip the blanket tighter and he moves away from Karl, who promptly moves towards him. "Another timeline? What are you even talking about?"

"Let's spend some time together, Dream," Karl whispers quietly, grinning when he manages to corner the green man against the wall. He grabs Dream's wrists and his chest begins to glow bright, the colors swirling together. Tugging on a thin yellow string around his neck, what he pulls out in front of his hoodie is a clock that flashes the same colors as Karl's hoodie; the same clock that's missing from Dream's frame. "How about we take a trip back around.. a hundred years ago, maybe?"

"How did you get that?" Dream questions, keeping his voice low. "I threw that in the lava!"

"I took your 'prank' on Sam _many_ times as an opportunity to go through the lava to get it before it, well, dissolves." Karl puts his free hand over the other's eyes to cover them and closes his own. "I promise you'll _love_ this, Dream. I enjoyed my time in the village, and I actually think you'll get along pretty well with a new friend of mine there."

Dream tries to look at anything that's not being blocked by Karl's hand; all he can see when he glances down is his blanket and both of their shoes, which isn't helping, as well as the glow coming from the clock and Karl's chest. So, all he can really do now is close his eyes and get ready. "Sam won't like me being gone, Karl. We enjoy each other's company."

"I think your mom'll enjoy her future son's company even better."

The glow brightens up the room and causes the lights in the cell to burst and shatter; both the traveller and the prisoner have disappeared from the space.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is strongly inspired by badboyhalo's most recent stream called  
> "Visiting DREAM in Prison - MunchyMC.com"
> 
> some aspects are from the stream (such as these three):  
> 1\. Dream's prank on Sam (minor spoiler territory)  
> 2\. Sam's prison instructions (like where to go, what to do, etc.)
> 
> and some aspects are my own (such as these):  
> 1\. Karl visiting Dream  
> 2\. A lot of dialogue (excluding Sam's instructions that he says to every visitor)  
> 3\. Basically Karl's whole situation at the prison since canonly he has yet (if ever) to visit :)


End file.
